Procedure
At many schools and universities all bikes brought onto campus are routinely required to be registered by their owners and to display prominently their annual school provided registration decal.
Some states in the USA, such as California, have laws which allow cities and municipalities to require registration of bikes. The registration period typically is in excess of one year.
Several commercial and peer based bike registries exist for the purpose of theft deterrence and to improve the probability of recovery in the event of loss. The registration period typically is from 1 year to unlimited. Some commercial and peer-to-peer registries are typically preventative in nature and are performed prior to loss, while other registries perform their service only after a theft occurs.
The bike owner generally supplies detailed bike information to the registrar such as: manufacturer, model, frame style, frame material, wheel diameter, serial number, colour, frame size, and accessory details. Contact information pertaining to the owner are also included in the registration process.
Read more about this topic: Bike Registry